Connecting structure for beams of a roof support or the like



y 1961 A. VANWERSCH ETAI. 2,991,103

CONNECTING STRUCTURE FOR BEAMS OF A ROOF SUPPORT OR THE LIKE Original Filed May 23, 1955 Jnyenfozzs W SW meat of a pair of beams STRUCTURE FOR BEAMS or A QDCONNECTING ROOF SUPPORT ORTI-[E LIKE AlOYS Vanwersch, Angermnnd, Bezirk .DusseldorL-Peter Vanwersch, Aachen, and Ludwig Vanwersch,; Esch- -weiler, near Aachen, Germany, assignors to Firma Eisenwerk Wanheim G.m.b.H., Duisburg-Wanheim, Germany originalfapplication May 23, 19'55, er. No. 510,201. .Divided and this application Dec. 2 4, 1958, Set-'NO.

I In France July 8,1948 '2 1? Public Law 619, Aug. 23, 1954 Patent expires July 8, 1968 '4 Claims. (Cl. 287-99) 7 1 v .fThisapplication is a divisional application of copending application Serial No. 510,204, filed on May 23, 1955.- V

The present inventionrelates to supporting structures particularly of the type. used to ,supportthe roof off'a mine shaft or the like.

:Particular problems are involved in supports. of the 1 above type because, on the One hand,.theymust be robust enough to withstand great forces and vbazause', on the Other hand, theymust be flexible enough to conform to whatever shape the roof .of the mine shaft orfthe lik happens to take. a

. One of the objects of the present invention isfto solve the above problems by providing connections between a plurality ,of beams which lend to the connected beams sufficient flexibility to conform to a given roof shape and which also lock the beams together in such'a way that they provide an extremely strong support.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a beam connecting structure of the above type which is exceedingly simple and which prevents angular displacewith respect'to each other {in either directionw Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a beam arrangement of the above type which may be disassembled whenever desired to have the beams reversed, for example.

Also, it is an object of the present invention to provide a beam adjusting structure which in addition to adjusting the angle between a pair of successive beams serves also to lock the beams in their adjusted position.

With the above objects in view, the present invention mainly consists of a supporting structure which includes a first beam having a bifurcated end portion provided with a pair of spaced walls each of which is formed with openings, the openings of one wall being aligned with those of the other wall. A second beam has an end portion extending between the spaced walls of the first beam and formed with an opening aligned with one set of openings of the spaced walls. A pivot pin extends through the aligned openings so that the first and second beams are turnable with respect to each other to a desired angular position. At least one eccentric element is pivotally supported in another set of aligned openings in the walls of the bifurcated end portion of the first beam for camming engagement with an abutment surface at the between beams 59 and 60. V

circular end portion 66 so that member 62 may be turned '2 j FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view illustrating one possible manner of interconnecting a pair of beams;

FIG. 1a is a partly sectional plane view of the device of FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a different embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 isa plane view of the device of-FIG. 2; and FIG. 4 is a. fragmentary sectional view of the device Of FIG. 2,, the section being taken along line of FIG."2."

. Referring now to the drawing, it will be seen that the beam 60 of FIG. 1 has a bifurcatedend portion provided with a pair of spaced walls 60', 60' between which the end portion of the beam 59 freely extends. The beams 59- and 60 are supported in a known way by suitable props not shown in the drawing and serving to hold the beams against the roof of a mine shaft or the like. This is true of all the embodiments of the invention.

The --walls of the bifurcated end portion of beam 60 and the end portion of beam 59 are respectively formed with openings 64 which are aligned and through which a pivot pin'61 extends so that in this way the beams 59 and 60 are pivotally connected for angular movement with respect to each other. Through such angular movement of the beams it is possible to arrange them so thatrthey correspond to the contour of a particular roof to be suphaving between these spaced walls an eccentric portion 65, shown indotted lines in FIG. 1. The end face of beam 59 is V-shaped, and is engaged by the eccentric portion of member 62 to determine the angular position The member 62 has anonwith a suitable wrench and by such turning the angular position of the eccentric is changed to regulate the angle between beams 59 and 60.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show an embodiment where the beam is provided with a bifurcated end portion having spaced walls 80', 80' between which an end portion of the beam 79 extends. These spaced walls and the end port-ion of beam 79 are. respectively formed with two pairs of aligned openings, as indicated most clearly in FIG. '3, the openings 84 of the beam 79 being larger than the opening of the beam 80, as is evident from FIG. 2. Elongated cylindrical members 81 and 82 respectively extend through the two sets of aligned openings and are tumably carried by the beam 80. These members 81 and 82 having eccentric projections 81' and 82 in the openings of beam 79, respectively, which engage this beam 79. Of course, members 81 and 82 are composed of several interconnected elements. The members 81 and 82 having non-circular, free end portions 81a and 82a, respectively, which extend respectively through marting non-circular openings of a pair of cranks to which a pair of nuts 86 are pivotally connected, nuts 86 being threaded oppositely from each other and respectively being in threaded engagement with oppositely threaded portions of a screw member 83 having non-circular end portions, as indicated in FIGS. 2 and 3. Thus, when the screw member 83 is turned about its axis the members 81 and 82 turn in opposite directions in order to turn beams 79 and 80 with respect to each other as well as to hold these beams in the angular position to which they are turned.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of supporting structures difiering from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described han y be dewi hqw sl a t n i -an wai the spirit of the present invention.

.Without further analysis, the foregoing will so vfully reveal the gist of the present invention that others ean by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essentialcharacteristics of the generic orspecific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and an o aequ a en of t f H W nsQIai n What is claimed asnewand desiredtobe secured by Letters Patent is: H V

1. In a supporting structure, in cornbination, a first beam having a bifurcated end portion provided witlia pair of spaced walls each of which is formedwith a pivot opening, said opening in one of said walls being aligned with that in said other wall; a second bea m having an end portion freely extending betweensaid :spaced walls and formed with a pivot opening aligned with said pivot openings insaidwalls; a pivot pin extending through .saidopenings; the end .portions of oneof said first and second beamsbeing ctormed with an additional opening spaced fromlsaid pivot opening in saidend portion, the end portion of the other one of said first'and second beams'being formed with an abutment face; and eamining means rotatably supported in said additional openingffor camming engagement with said abutment face.

2. In a supportingstructure, in combination, afirst beam having a bifurcatedend portion provided with a pair of spaced walls each of which is tormedyvith two openings,v said openings of said walls being alignedwith each other to provide two pairs of aligned openings, and

one of said pairs of aligned openings being located near- .er to the extremity of said. end portion of said firstbeam than the other pair ofaligned openings; a secondbeam having an end portionextending between said pair'of spaced walls, formed with an opening aligned with said one pair of aligned openings to provide three aligned openings, and terminating ina substantially V-shaped end face located adjacent said other pair of aligned openings; a pivot pin extending through said three aligned openaandan ad ustin p'ii rh n e d-rortigrs esten through saidjother pair of aligned Qpeningsrespect ively, andjhavin'g between said wallsan eccentric portionengaging said V-sliaped end face of saidsecond beam.

In a supporting structure, in combination, a first beam having 'a bi furoate d end portion provided with a pair ofspaced walls each ofwhich isformed with a pair of openings longitudinally along said ,beam

with the openings of one wall aligned with thn'senffthe other wall to provide two pairs of aligned openings; a second beam having an end portion extending between said pair of spaced "walls andformedyvith a pair of openings respectively overlapping said two pairs of aligned openings and .beingl argert-han the same; a .pair of ,pins respectively extending through said .openings' of said second beam and said two pairs of aligned openings'andres pectively having eccentric portions in said openings of said secpndbeam in engagement with the latter'fand tum mg means connected tosaid pins for simultaneously its th i OPP Sit dir io "f4. Ina s upporting strlicture, in combination, a first q mhavins fi q tedfi Po o pr v w h a Pa na wa sa9 beamha n a rv 'tion freely entending between said spaced walls; pivot means connecting said end portions for tilting movement abou i ni .syhst nt ll no m s ,b am c assume by sa end Por o of one of sa b am tunable about an spaced from, and substantially pa lel to,said of said pivot means;.and a cam face provided onthe end portion ofthe other of said beams and engaged by said means.

References Cited in the file of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS ,;France I Mar. 12,1952 

